


What's Wrong With Being a Republican?

by CreativelyChallenged



Category: The Newsroom (US TV)
Genre: Complete, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-15
Updated: 2017-04-22
Packaged: 2018-10-19 06:25:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10634136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CreativelyChallenged/pseuds/CreativelyChallenged
Summary: I'm not sure how long this will spin out, but it's 2017, and Will has some views on Donald Trump and North Korea that aren't going down well with his colleagues, including his wife.





	1. Chapter 1

Will marches into Mackenzie's office, swiftly followed by an agitated Jim.

"Mac, I want a ruling. North Korea..." Will is jumpy as he speaks.

"Yes, I know North Korea; Communist totalitarian state in Asia that may or may not have nuclear capabilities to blast Los Angeles. Angry little dictator."

Mackenzie has sensed the tension between Jim and Will and hopes to ease it with some light heartedness.

"Ha ha," Will narrows his eyes as he responds dryly, "Yes, that one, but obviously I am not here to test your geopolitical knowledge. Trump had warships on their way to the peninsular, and has said that Korea is a problem that will be dealt with. It's a big story."

"So you didn't come here to test me on geopolitics but you did apparently come here to school me on, you know, the news, which, you know, I do for a job," Mackenzie is a little testy as she replies, sensing what's about to come.

Will jabs a finger in Jim's direction. "Scooter here wants to do a take down of Trump's quote aggressive tactics and you know what, I don't wanna take it down. You know why? Because North Korea is a problem that needs to be dealt with. I want to talk about THAT!" Will's voice is raised as he finishes abruptly.

"Mac, look, we can't be seen to be encouraging aggressive tactics to our adversaries. It's like propaganda for World War Three!" Jim's tone matches Will's frustration.

Mackenzie comes around her desk and crosses her arms, suddenly looking like an annoyed teacher with naughty school boys. "You're both wrong, although Will you take the prize for most idiotic assertion. Jim, if we take the angle of North Korea's continued threats of nuclear war and the history of deals made under Clinton and then Bush's antagonism towards them with 'axis of evil' followed by the ramp up of nuclear testing since Kim Jong-Un took over, then we are clearly stating facts that can't possibly be seen in any way as propagandist."

Will turns to Jim and smirks triumphantly.

Mackenzie immediately turns to Will. "Listen up, McAvoy, because you're a moron. Are you honestly saying that Trump's actions are in any way in the best interest of a) this country or b) the world? Because that's just unbelievably stupid. We have a President who thinks wars are part of a business deal, who wants to threaten the lives of, how many was it the State department said, a million South Koreans?" Mackenzie looks askance at Will, but continues before he has a chance to respond. "You know there are moments like this, when you come out with something so ridiculous, that I wonder how I could have married a Republican, let alone procreated with one." Mackenzie shakes her head and walks back to her chair.

Will, now wound up (as Mackenzie had intended), almost yells his response. "How many times do we have to go over this, what's wrong with being a Republican?! And this has absolutely nothing to do with partisanship, it has everything to do with right and wrong. Am I Trump's biggest fan? No, I think he's an idiot 99% of the time. Did I want to see him as President? Both of you and every single person down in that bullpen know I didn't. What did I say before we left the studio on election night? I said the biggest losers were moderate Republicans. You only have to look at Paul Ryan's laughable attempt at passing healthcare reform to see that. I'm saying on this one topic, on an oppressive, antagonistic, dictatorship, we might be able to give a little credence to the idea that encouraging China to pull its support and showing some antagonism ourselves, reminding North Korea that the might of the US military is the greatest in the world, is no bad thing!"

Jim, who has watched the exchange with a kind of bemused acceptance, interjects before Mackenzie can respond. "Will, are you crazy? This is a country out of which we have patchy intelligence. We have little to no understanding of how he might respond to threats from the US and for us to put warships in Korean waters is madness. Why on earth would you want to go on national television and say otherwise? I'm EP of Newsnight and I'm saying we can't do it. I agree with you that we should lead with North Korea but we are not going to even imply that it's a good move."

Mackenzie, ever the master of compromise, cuts in. "We are going to speak to our military sources. If we can get someone respectable, on the record, who will say that there is anything to be gained from the move, we put them on air. If we do that, we counter with someone on par to say why not. Will can question them both and the viewers can make up their mind. Before either of you say anything, I have to say that whilst I think Will is an idiot, I'm a little annoyed that you couldn't come up with this, the most obvious solution, before coming to me with this because you're bickering like children. What on earth did I teach you - or clearly didn't teach you - in my years down in that newsroom? You've been working together long enough to sort out this sort of shit between you. Now go, annoy someone else, and get it together down there."

Both men move to leave the room, but Mackenzie speaks again. "Actually, Will, stay here a second will you?"

Will turns back from the door and stands across from Mackenzie, arms folded, lips pursed.

"I know you know, but obviously I don't wonder at my having married you, nor, of course, having children with you, even if sometimes when either of them show their stubborn streak I blame entirely you," Mackenzie smiles and has a glint in her eye as she talks.

Will, who visibly relaxes and lets his arms go to his waist, grins back. "No, of course, they definitely didn't get their stubborness from their mother at all."

"Absolutely not, I'm a delight. At all times."

"I believe you, but thousands wouldn't."

"OK, at least we've got that clear. You'd better try and put your show together. I'll come to the 2pm rundown, check in on you guys, since clearly you need it," Mackenzie winks as she finishes.

"Maybe you should encourage Jim to listen to his Managing Editor more and we wouldn't have these spats," Will replies good naturedly.

Mackenzie simply rolls her eyes, points at the door, and exclaims, "Go!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I should say, for context, the timeline of the previous chapter and this one is that we're in the newsroom last Friday, 14 April.
> 
> I really don't want to upset anyone, and I'm not even American so I'm very, very careful about espousing any personal views on Trump or his administration. If you think I write anything that mis-represents what is actually a very sensitive and very real situation, please let me know and I'll happily edit.
> 
> There's a chance I might abandon this, as the narrative thread I thought was in this seems to have frayed!

Will enters the bullpen to hear Jim call him over as he does so. As he approaches, Jim beckons him towards his office. Will follows him, reminding himself he needs to be calm - he is not keen on disappointing Mackenzie. Again. He'll remain calm, but as he watches Jim take a seat, he decides he's going to maximise his height advantage and places his hands to his hips to signify that he has no intention of sitting down. Jim looks up at him tentatively but says nothing. Will rolls his eyes (just a hint, barely noticeable) and waves his arm across his front, "Well, you summoned me in here, you wanna get on with it?"

"Will, please. I don't want to have disagreements with you that land us in Mac's office. I am aware that this is a tricky topic to cover, and there's a chance I'm allowing my view on how to cover it be impacted by my time in the Middle East, but I don't really know where the propaganda thing came from, I was just frustrated that you weren't taking on board what I was saying and, well, you obviously know the rest. Anyway, I wanted to put a suggestion to you and see what you thought. I take what Mac suggested, but this is our show and I think there's a more sensible way to cover the story that will give the viewers the information they need without the arguably reductive path of one interview per side." Jim pauses to take in Will's expression and check in on how this is going down with him. Will seems calm and receptive - a good start and encouragement to continue. "I think we should speak to an academic who has expertise on the Koreas and then see who in the military we can speak to who can discuss nuclear weaponisation. That way we can discuss the regime, their unpredictability, and the veracity of any nuclear threat to the States. Obviously what you ask them is somewhat up to you but I have a list of names I want to give to the guys to call, see who we can get on the air tonight, so if you're keen, then I'd like to get them onto it right away. I think it would be good to have this as together as possible for the rundown."

Will crosses his arms in front of his chest and looks around the room whilst he considers Jim's suggestion. "You know, I'd much rather have these conversations in my office. I can smoke in there, I have the power of my desk, I can be a little more intimidating, it makes me feel better. My only ammunition in this room is my height and stature; it's less impressive. You know, just for future reference," Will's tone is dry and unreadable. "OK Jim, I hear what you're saying - you want to show the boss that we can play nice down here and that we don't need to run to teacher every time we have a disagreement. I can handle that, certainly makes my home life easier: I prefer being able to go home to my Scotch and guitars rather than a scolding from my wife."

Jim smiles, pleased to have (at least temporarily) ended the dispute. "Great, so, I'll head out to give the guys the names and we'll get going."

* * * * *

Mackenzie breezes in ten minutes late to the rundown meeting. "Right, update, how are we going down here? I don't see any swords, so I assume we haven't escalated to duels yet to resolve your differences." She takes a seat at the side of the room, and raises an eyebrow at Jim, who is holding court by the whiteboard. "How's the A block shaping up?"

Jim goes to answer but is cut off by Will. Mackenzie's head snaps round to look at him as he begins his update with a confidence in his voice that veers on smug, "Upon Jim's suggestion, we have decided to conduct two interviews this evening, one with an academic called Matt Shipman..." (Kendra interjects - 'Mike Chinoy") who is some kind of professor in California and an expert on North Korea and we managed to get hold of one of the generals for the Seventh Air Force who agreed to go on air for an interview. I'm not even going to pretend I remember his name. Tim something."

Mackenzie gives a half smile and looks over to Kendra, who corrects Will. "His name is Thomas Bergeson, he's Lieutenant General with the Seventh and commander."

Jim continues the explanation. "I know you wanted us to get two sides, but I thought this way we could interview from an analysis of the regime and the reality of the military threat. We spoke to both of them earlier, we got some good stuff. We're giving them about four minutes each in the A block. The B block is Sloan talking about the cost of sending war ships to Korean waters and what economic impact there might be in the event that any attacks do take place..."

Sloan mutters under her breath but loudly enough for the entire room to hear, "Nice break from calculating Trump's Secret Service spend." When she registers the silence in the room, she looks up from her Blackberry and gives her most disarming, innocent smile. "Sorry. Continue."

Mackenzie stands up, "Well, you clearly don't need me here, you seem to have resolved your lovers' quarrel between you well enough and I have a nanny to check on, meetings to attend, budgets to review and a stack of paperwork to get through. Will, can I borrow you for a second?"

Will duly stands and follows Mackenzie out of the room and towards his office. They enter and Mackenzie immediately spins around, leaving Will almost trapped in his doorway. "Bill O'Reilly," she says simply.

"What?" Will looks genuinely confused.

"Don't be obtuse with me, I've worked out your game, mister," Mackenzie replies. "Bill O'Reilly is almost certainly on the outs at Fox and since you're up against him at eight pm, you're thinking that you keep a right wing or conservative or Republican or however you want to put it bent to your show, you can pick up his viewers." Mackenzie's arms are folded in front of her and she looks sceptically at Will for his very predictable denial.

"That is absolutely crazy. Have you watched that guy's show? He's a kook, why would I want to morph into him? What do you take me for?!" Will immediately jumps vehemently to his own defence.

"No, Will, I'm not saying you're going to morph into him. I'm saying you want a conservative bent to appeal to a huge number of viewers who might feel cast adrift right now and who might not find solace in Dana Perino, which is ironic because she might be one of the only sane Republicans working for that shit show."

"Mac, this is crazy talk. Seriously, I am not in any thinking about O'Reilly or anybody else at any other channel. Surely you know by now that I have my opinions and whilst they might not always - or even often - align with yours, they are my convictions."

Mac holds her hands up in surrender. "Alright, alright, I'll drop it. But Will, heed my words, if he does go, you are not going to find a land rush to ACN. I do not want to see you allowing partisanship to creep into your script. And you know that if I so much get a whiff of you imply anything, I'll be in that studio faster than you can say Mitch McConnell. You know the rules Will, facts drive the reporting, not opinion."

Will rolls his eyes slightly, "Yes I have given that some consideration over the last seven years," he replies with exasperation in his voice. "Honestly Mac, why are we having this conversation? We've found an angle for the North Korea item and I think I do manage to keep my leprosy, sorry, Republicanism from my reporting. But you can't keep using my political persuasion as a stick to beat me with. I am already significantly in the minority in this office, and honestly I find it kind of exhausting having to justify being a member of the GOP whenever Trump or McConnell or the Tea Party or Chaffetz or Mninchin say or do something stupid. Just bear in mind that there are still some of us conservatives out there that aren't kooks and who didn't think it was a smart move to block Garland, or who didn't roll over and blindly support Trump once he got the nomination, on which note, by the way, I am still pissed at you and Jim for not allowing even two minutes on the flaws of the Republican nomination system, especially when Bernie made such a big deal of the Super Delegates in the Democratic Party. The system is broken when it allows a moron like Trump take the nomination with pluralities across so many states, and *that* is a conversation worth having."

Mackenzie, who has nodded along mainly supportively but also with a slight mock condescension, replies. "Yes, it absolutely is. For Nate Cohn, and Nate Silver and Harry Enten and all those other data geeks to have. We have 42 minutes of programming a night and analysing Republican Primaries after the fact was not a sensible use of that time. Anyway, we're done here. I'm going to call Anastasia and check on the kids and I believe you have interviews to prep for. See you later."

* * * * *

"Mr Chinoy, are you seriously telling me that somehow George W Bush is to blame for the current state of aggression between the US and North Korea? Because that is absurd," Will is a little abrasive in his tone, and the interview has not quite gone how he expected.

He hears Jim come into his ear, "Will, he didn't, please stay calm and don't get defensive."

The academic, after a moment of consideration, responds to Will's question. "No Will, I didn't. I'm merely explaining some background to the situation, namely that there were certain people within President Bush's administration who made concerted efforts to sabotage any meaningful rapprochement with North Korea." Chinoy's tone is firm but otherwise neutral, "That being said, there is no way to know whether North Korea would have actually followed through on any denuclearisation steps," he continues.

"Precisely Mr Chinoy, and do you have any reason to think that without President Bush including North Korea in his axis of evil we would be in any sort of a different position in relation to the nuclear threat North Korea poses?" Will's tone continues to be terse and seconds later his eyebrows raise in surprise as he suddenly hears Mackenzie's voice in his ear. Her voice is eerily calm as she speaks.

"Will, don't mistake my calm, soothing tone deceive you, I'm furious with you for this. Do not try and combat with this guy who you perceive to be criticising your beloved George Bush. He isn't and exactly as I told you not to, you've let partisanship creep into your broadcast. Next question better be conciliatory if you know what's good for you." Mackenzie removes the headset she'd grabbed angrily and throws it back on the desk. "I fucking knew I had to stay for this tonight. He's a total idiot. I have to miss putting my kids to bed - his kids! - to stick around to keep him in check because he thinks for some unfathomable reason that he can do his own thing all because he's sleeping with the boss."

Meanwhile in the studio, and sufficiently spooked by Mackenzie (he didn't even know she was still in the office!), Will winds back his combativeness, and moves on - probably wisely - to discussing the Agreed Framework put together under the Clinton administration. He manages to smoothly end the interview and go to break, knowing that Mackenzie will burst in to the studio as soon as they're out. Right on cue, the door slams open. "William McAvoy, I will not have you not listen to me. In this building, I am the director of news, which makes me your boss, and when I give you a warning about partisanship, and you ignore that for your own agenda, or whatever the fuck that was for, it doesn't become OK because we happen to have the same last name."

Will, who was originally apologetic, has allowed it to be replaced by frustration of his own, but wisely decides the studio isn't the place to have the argument he knows is coming. "Mackenzie, I didn't deliberately become combative, I just didn't like what he was implying. I have to be back on the air in two minutes and I've got a sneaking suspicion that whatever discussion that's coming on is gonna last longer than that, so can we please put a pin in this until I get home?" His voice is calm, and he speaks almost under his breath.

"Ha! Home?! You wish, Will. You're off the air at 9pm. I want you in my office by 9:05. We don't leave until the message gets through to you."

Will, who is staring steadfastly at his cards, simply shrugs his shoulders and does a single nod of the head. Mackenzie glares at him for a few seconds, hands on hips. Finally she exclaims, "Grrrrrr!" and turns on her heel to leave the studio as dramatically as she entered.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mackenzie and Will have it out after the broadcast.

Will stands outside Mackenzie's office door for a few moments, part bracing himself, part pondering what tack to take when he enters the office. He decides to be overly genial.

"Hey boss, as requested, here I am, 9:05 on the dot," he offers a half smile as he enters and greets Mackenzie.

Mackenzie looks up from her computer, removes her glasses and discards them on the desk. "That's a pretty smart move, McAvoy. I've spent the last 30 minutes trying to work out what in the fuck you were playing at tonight, but I keep coming up short. Perhaps you can help me with an explanation?" She crosses her arms and pushes back from her desk a little as she looks at him expectantly.

Helping himself to seat opposite Mackenzie, he contemplates her for a moment or two before responding.

"Mac, I just fundamentally disagreed with what he was saying. I mean, to essentially claim that Kim Jong-Un is developing nuclear weapons at the rate he is because of something George Bush said is ridiculous!" Will tries to keep his cool but lets irritation seep into his tone.

"No, it's not. Do you know what is ridiculous? That you think that's what he claims. This is exactly what I'm referring to you with your partisanship. Chinoy did nothing but outline the facts of the background, so unless you can tell me there was never a framework, that Bush didn't tell the world that North Korea was part of the axis of evil and that the flip flopping on Clinton's policy when Bush took office didn't happen, there's nothing you can possibly take umbrage with in what Chinoy said. What's your play Will? I'm dying to know why you've suddenly decided this is the issue that you're going to take up and use the air waves to try and back up Trump's naive and dangerous policy. He's playing with fire, and he's got no fucking clue what he's doing; I know you know that."

"How do you know I know that? I think something has to be done about North Korea and I think something should have been done long ago. Clinton was foolish enough to think that the solution was negotiations and agreements, Bush recognised their danger. It's basically that simple." Will, absolutely assured of his own convictions, is perfectly calm in his explanation.

Mackenzie, on the other hand, contorts her face to express her dumbfoundedness at what she's hearing. "Simple? This is bonkers. Sorry, actually it's bollocks: aside from anything else, North Korea has been known to be developing nuclear weapons for decades and they're, as I think we can prove from the Korean War, belligerent antagonists. How do you think it's the right thing to do to go toe to toe with them? The diplomatic stance that Clinton took was sensible in keeping them at bay, which is all you can hope to do with a dictatorship like that, and even if they were technically skirting the rules of the framework, they were at least being pandered to in a way that kept them quiet. So, after years of this, Bush proverbially blows it up and turns what was a quiet aggressor into one that went full throttle back into their nuclear development programme."

Will simply looks at Mackenzie and says nothing for a while, until he says, "So we disagree on North Korea, but I assume discussions of Presidential policy on North Korea isn't why I'm here. I'm done with talking about it, and we'll just have to agree to disagree. Don't you want to issue my reprimand so we can get home? I'm tired and it's been a long day. I'm assuming Anastasia wants to get home and it's six to five and pick 'em that Jacob will wake up almost as soon as we get to sleep."

A little taken aback by Will's slightly condescending manner of speaking, Mackenzie realises she has to make the stance clear. "Those are things we can deal with when we have to deal with them, and Anastasia is fine to stay late. The most important thing at the moment is that you understand that when I tell you not to do something, you don't do it. I haven't felt a need to check over your rundown until now and I don't want to start to, but another stunt like tonight and I'll start."

"I just want to be clear here Mackenzie; is this because of Trump? Because it feels to me like you're so vehemently opposed to him that if we ever air any story that gives even the slightest hint that he might have a sensible policy proposal or that he has any kind of success in the role of President, you'll hit the roof and beat me with the stick my Republicanism, calling out 'partisanship' all over the bullpen with a slightly wild look in your eye."

With a quiet fury building up inside of her, Mackenzie locks eyes with Will. "Do you want to give a moment's thought to just how much of an arsehole you sounded then? Of course it's not about Trump, though I'd bet my house on his not fulfilling a single policy promise, it's about you and your lack of objectivity when it comes to certain topics about which you can't help but express an opinion."

"I beg to differ," Will replies with absolute equanimity, "If you recall, this entire debate started because I said I happened to possibly agree to some extent with Trump about North Korea. Now, being honest, if it had been anybody else, if we had decided to independently do a report on North Korea, you wouldn't have had even the slightest objection to my stance - in relation to Bush, Clinton, or any other part of the history of negotiations with North Korea."

"Complete crap, Will. That's complete crap. I objected to it because you were expressing an opinion and berating an interviewee you didn't agree with. For fuck's sake, I can't stand the fact that Trump is President but I'm just as pissed off with you going on prime time air and allowing your views to creep into the transmission as I would be if Jon Lovett came on and did the same thing." Mac's tone is calmer but frustrated.

"OK, OK, then I'm sorry - and I'll be sure to do my best that I don't allow my partisanship to show in the broadcast." Will stands up and walks around the desk to Mackenzie. He reaches out his hand to take hers. "Now, can we please go home? I'm hungry, I'm tired and I want a beer. I had a bit of a fall out with my boss today, I'll tell you all about it when we get home."

Despite herself, Mac manages a smile as she replies, "Yeah, let's get out of here. You can tell me all about your boss, she sounds like she must be a bit of a pain to work with."

She takes a hold of Will's hand and stands up, grabbing her purse as she does so. They make to the leave the office, and as they head out, WIll says, "Oh, the worst; you wouldn't believe."


End file.
